GOLDen Years
by Sonic226
Summary: In a world similar yet oh so far away from Remnant, war rages, the line between Huntsman and Soldier is blurring, and a sinister organization seeks total control of the world. The Informers, a group of rebels formed to oppose a cruel superpower, are the only ones aware of this threat and they intend to stop them, whether by fighting fire with fire or burning it all down altogether.
1. A Lesson in Ancient History

This story warrants quite a bit of an introduction. You could get confused if we just jumped right into the thick of things, it'd be better if you had an understanding of the world first.

The world we live in is called Carcosa. It earned that name from a religion, or to some merely a legend, that told the story of humanity's creation and their subsequent domination of the entire planet, joining everyone in such a cohesive empire that it was all just one big city sprawling across every continent, and they called it Carcosa.

Of course, the city reportedly fell, and nowadays things are not as simple. You see, according to legend, Carcosa's end came when the Sallow, monstrous beings of decay and malice were unleashed onto our world by a selfish man, one of the one hundred regents who ruled over Carcosa. His lust for new land led him to the forbidden continent of Marque, and as soon as he set foot upon it, a surge of negativity and chaos fell across old Carcosa.

Accounts vary from different denominations of the faith, but some say Carcosa fell in just one night. The head regent was murdered by the man now known as the Sallow Regent, monsters crawled up from the depths of chasms in Marque. Bouts of insanity took many men's minds, they ran about and caused anarchy wherever they roamed. Man and beast became one as the Faunus appeared, strange people with the traits of animals.

And if they weren't enough to confuse and cause hysteria, there was also the Vennlige. They came from Marque and their pale yellow complexions made them resemble these sallow creatures, their intimidating stature and horns did them no favors either. All these factors, the assault from these infernal beings, the death of the knowledgeable and divine leader, the appearance of these alien and odd-looking people, they all led to the collapse of a great and powerful civilization. Once united, they could no longer agree with one another, ideals held by some were not held by others, some saw these Faunus and Vennlige as no better than the Sallow but some saw them as no less human than they were.

In the end, the seven surviving regents simply agreed to disagree, they each went off and attempted to found a society on their own. The Sallow beings were relentless, however, and it seemed that they were all doomed.

Then, a warrior appeared.

Each kingdom had a different idea of what this warrior was like. Some think there were simply seven warriors. Whatever the case, these warriors were said to hold a power that, at that point, humanity had lost. Aura. With the release of the Sallow, it was as if all aura had been leeched from humankind, yet these individuals wielded it with the same ease as they wielded their weapons.

They pushed back the Sallow threat to a more manageable level but then disappeared. Their impact was not forgotten though as each kingdom saw to it that academies were constructed where young men and women were trained to use aura as these warriors, or as they went on to be called, huntsmen did.

Eventually, these civilizations grew and rediscovered each other, and despite their differences, they saw it as necessary to combine their efforts against the Sallow. The academies would cooperate to the best of their abilities for the greater good.

And that's the way it's been for a very long time.


	2. A Lesson in Recent History

There had been conflicts since then, it's only natural. But so far, differing countries have managed to avoid sparking any major wars with one another, the kind of wars that would span the globe and send reverberations throughout the planet. The common enemy of the Sallow played a large role in this, governments were more concerned with training huntsmen than quarreling over resources or bickering over ideology. But slowly, as the threat of the Sallow diminished, focus shifted away from this common goal.

In the 388th year, all of the world leaders came together for an annual conference to discuss important matters. This particular conference held quite a bit of importance, as the subject was the establishment of a sort of union between all of the nations, something that would bring society closer to its fabled Carcosan roots.

In the somewhat small nation of Amicissia, famed for its peaceful ways and acceptance of all races, this meeting was held. The seven most powerful people on the planet were sat around a round wooden table, in a room painstakingly decorated to be pleasing to the eyes of the various world leaders. Lavish red carpeting with a gold trim covered the floor of the beige room, and serene paintings of the beautiful jungles of Amicissia hung on the walls.

There was no real 'head of the group', each leader was more or less treated as an equal, but it was usually the host, Democratic Minister of Amicissia Wilde Mustang who kicked things off at the meetings. He was a tall Faunus with two horse ears growing out of the long, black mane of curled hair on his head. His skin was deeply tanned with a cool, soft undertone, complimented by his bright brown eyes. Though you'd think with his stature he'd be quite the intimidating figure, he carried himself very lightly, a polite smile could be found on his face most of the time during these meetings and he'd dressed fairly casually for the affair. A plain navy blue jacket over a white dress shirt, accompanied by matching dress pants, shoes, and a tie was what he'd chosen to wear today. A stark difference from the regalia worn by some at the table.

The meeting began, and almost immediately, the President of the northern nation Helysia spoke up in a calm and amiable tone. With a smile, he made a simple statement, claiming that, with no offense towards the others at the table, Helysia should be the head of this organization, due to its technological advancement.

It didn't take a genius to know that President London Tumanskov had probably said that as a slight dig to his fellow leaders at the table. He was nothing if not a proud man, and he took every opportunity to remind everyone how well his fatherland is doing under his leadership. He was reasonably tall, with a healthy build that no doubt made him exceptional in athletics or combat in his youth. He had pale skin with an almost flushed undertone, with greying black hair cut short and neat, and a bushy mustache sat right below a rosy, aquiline nose. These features befitting of an older man didn't do much to lessen his somewhat movie star looks though, he had a square jaw and a winning smile he flashed at any given opportunity. He either looked like a suave classy older gentleman or a kind and caring father. But as soon as his warm, toothy smile fades, you were left with an expression that radiated an almost dangerous sense of control.

Most of the leaders were silent, they'd grown used to Tumanskov's attitude, and even if they were annoyed by it, he had a point. Helysia had devoted itself to progress and technology, not to mention the fact that Helysia's armed forces are the largest and most well equipped on the planet. Speaking up against him is a dangerous risk to take... luckily, there was at least one man there bold enough to stand up to him.

All eyes at the table went to the President of Manabriar, a large nation devoted to the faith of the Great Fable. He spoke out against the cold man of the north, accused him of being a tyrant who would completely mismanage a peaceful organization like this. He was the man's younger, and his country wasn't as well-equipped to throw its weight around as Tumanskov's, but he was Cedar Reed, the man who was going to lead Manabriar to a new age of prosperity, the youngest man ever elected president, he'd promised to stand up for his country and dammit that's what he was gonna do.

And that's probably where everything went wrong.

Quartz Actinolite, the Queen of Erena, a small tropical island nation took Tumanskov's side, saying she had complete faith in him as a leader. Erimos's President Blond accused Quartz of only siding with Tumanskov out of fear of his military. The Queen of the small nation of Heartland, Carmine Million, believed she should rule, whilst the Queen of neighboring Rookstone, Snow Platinum, thought that anybody other than Tumanskov or Million would be a good leader. Mustang sank into his seat a bit, sighing and proposing that everyone could just be equals. Reed wholeheartedly agreed with that, as did Platinum, but Tumanskov was disgusted with the idea of taking the advice of a Faunus, who he deemed a lower lifeform. Reed was quick to get back on him, accusing him of being a small minded bigot, and Actinolite responded by accusing Blond of being just as much as a bigot as Trumanskov, who himself pointed out that he discredited the Faunus for 'scientific reasons', whereas Blond dismissed them due to a fairy tale, or as he referred to it, his religion.

There was no going back from this. The battle lines had been drawn, the alliance of Erena and Helysia were to declare war upon Manabriar, Erimos, Amicissia, Heartland, and Rookstone. Unfortunately, Amicissia and Erimos weren't very well armed. They still supported each other, but Manabriar would be doing most of the heavy lifting, with some help from Rookstone and Heartland as well. They dubbed their alliance against the twin terrors of Erena and Helysia MAEHR and set out to put troops all along the Helysian border, in both Manabriar and Erimos. But realistically, they didn't stand that good of a chance against Helysia's forces.

Battles raged as you'd expect them to, with soldiers, with pilots, with gunners, but eventually, something very different happened. A platoon, forty soldiers, were wiped out completely by a single squad.

Because that squad was led by a huntsman.


	3. Station to Station

A young man was waiting at a train station in Erimos. He had lightly tanned skin that hinted at his Erenian heritage, and ginger hair slicked back in a suave style. His nose arched softly downwards, and he possessed a sharp jawline to match his high cheekbones. His athletic frame was outfitted in a white dress shirt and a black waistcoat with matching black trousers and shoes, as well as a long black leather coat. This attire wasn't very suitable for the arid environment he was currently in, but he was about to travel to Manabriar, where these clothes would be much more appropriate for the cooler temperatures there. He was sat on a bench, a large suitcase next to him, and a ticket for the train in his hand. He watched as the train pulled in right on time and began the boarding process.

He handed his ticket and his money over to the conductor. She had sunny blonde hair tied up neatly into a bun and a chipper smile. "Enjoy your trip, Mr. Duke." He glanced off at some of the other passengers as he stepped on board. "I'll do my best..."

White Duke was going to Manabriar to join a covert military organization. He was a huntsman, trained at Fray Academy in Zerzura, the capital city of Erimos, and he'd been recommended by the government of Erimos. He'd been informed that some trouble was coming to the train, highjackers interested in the cargo of dust and weapons. He sat down by a window and considered trying to determine who the criminals were before they made their move. But he wasn't much of a detective, nobody seemed all that suspicious or remarkable around him. They'd probably make their move at night, he'd just have to stay up. He gazed out the window, formulating a strategy for later.

Later, he'd decided to just sort of wing it. He looked out of the window in his room in the sleeper car, it was pretty late, the sun had set and some clouds were rolling in. He doubted that the thieves would take a rain check. He heard some commotion coming from the next car over. "That'll be them, I suppose..." He began to open the suitcase he'd set on his bunk, taking out two golden eight shot revolvers. "Alright, let's get goi-" Just then, he felt someone behind him, he turned and held his revolvers up at the man who'd entered his room... carrying a tray of complimentary drinks on it. The man jumped back "J-Jeez Louise!" Duke lowered his weapons. "S-Sorry, I was, uh... expecting someone else..." Just then, one of the doors of the car crashed open. He shoved the man out of his way and darted out the door. This time he bothered to look at the men before threatening them, seeing that they were wearing all black with tactical masks and holding weapons. Once he saw that they were pretty clearly criminals, he opened fire, taking them off guard. Then, he sensed something behind him, and rolled forward, aiming a revolver at where he'd just stood. The waiter who brought the drinks had a knife in his hand. "Oh, you prick, you WERE a hijacker!" He fired at him, sending his body tumbling to the floor. He sighed. "Now, how to go about this..." He looked at the door the men came through. "That should be the way to the cargo... pretty sure they wouldn't be able to get to it if I detached the car." He quickloaded his revolvers and set off to the cargo car.

This would involve fighting a lot of hijackers though, which he had no real problem with. He weaved between shots, both from rifles and hand-to-hand, and overall experienced very little difficulty. While quickloading could be cumbersome, he was able to hold his own without his weapons. Finally, he reached the car, walking out into the rain and detaching the coupling between the cargo car and the rest of the train, sending it lagging behind. "Alright, now to deal with the rest of them." Just then, he sensed another weapon coming his way, dodging out of the way by clinging to the ladder on the back of the car and climbing up to the roof. "Lovely, guess I'm spending some time up here in the rain now." As he reached the top, he ducked out of the way of a bullet as it whizzed by him. He looked into the distance and saw a sniper on a car ahead. "Oh, come on, this is getting silly." He started advancing towards the sniper, carefully rolling out of the way of bullets. After a close call of almost falling off the train, he decided on a better idea. He spun a revolver and fired at the sniper. Or rather, at the sniper's bullet, sending it flying off course. He continued onwards, firing bullets just at the same time as, or even before the sniper did until the sniper finally stood up and shifted their weapon into a sword. Duke quickloaded as she approached. "Ugh, I liked when we were shooting each other better." The sniper swung at Duke, who dodged out of the way, mainly trying to disarm them.

Just as he was about to manage this, he heard another blade being dragged against the roof of the train. The sniper backed away from him, stepping aside for the new masked figure. The sword they dragged intimidatingly along the roof of the train was beautifully detailed, and almost comically large. Duke spun his revolvers, just as a show of his skills with them. In return, the masked figure tossed his blade up into the air with one arm and snatched it as it fell with his other. "...Seems we're both pretty good." The figure nodded and got into a proper stance with their blade. Duke took the first action, firing at the figure, who rushed out of the way of his shot, swinging wildly at him. Duke was able to dodge with his usual precision, but something about this fight felt familiar to him. As he had that thought, the masked swordsman tripped him up, slicing him in the back. As he fell, he twisted around and got a clear shot that glanced the side of the masked figure's head. Unfortunately, he then nearly rolled off of the moving train, barely hanging onto the slippery ledge. He heard the footsteps of the criminal, their mask had been damaged by the shot and revealed a side of their face... a very familiar face. The man, he was sure it was a man now, removed the mask and revealed himself. "Long time no see, White." He smirked. It was Duke's estranged brother. No wonder that fight felt familiar. See, White Duke and his brother, Diam, didn't get along. White was raised by their mother in Erimos, while Diam was brought up by their father in Erena. There used to be only a mild sibling rivalry between the two, but it had grown to true hatred as their ideologies differed. They both became huntsmen and competed against one another in a few tournaments, which only increased their disdain for one another.

He heard another voice as well. "Cut the pleasantries and help him up already." Spoke some female voice, muffled by a mask. That'd be the sniper, he could only assume. His brother reached out a hand to help him up, which he considered, but thought better of, pulling himself up onto the roof on his own. "What the hell is going on here?" White asked. The sniper took off her mask, revealing herself as the same blonde woman who'd been the conductor, except she looked a LOT less chipper. "Don't worry, we'll be sure to explain on the roof of this moving train in a thunderstorm. Just follow us." She started walking to the end of the car they were on to re-enter the train. Diam smiled at his brother "Welcome to the Informers, White." He said as he followed the sniper back into the train. 'Welcome to the Informers'? Does that mean all this was just...

A test?


	4. The Informers

Duke sat at a table in the dining car with three huntsmen. The first, sat across from him, was his brother Diam. Diam was similar in appearance to his brother, though more tanned from the Erenian sun, he clearly spent a lot of time on his appearance to properly reflect the values of his homeland. His hair wasn't quite long or short, just casually unkempt and brushed back into a cool style, blondish-brown in color. He was still wearing the hijacker outfit, but normally he and his brother seemed to have similar dress sense. He often wore formal attire, a black and gray pinstripe suit. Like his brother, his dress sense wasn't very colorful, but his eyes were, a dazzling blue that made it seem as though they were diamonds. White's eyes were a similar, less pronounced blue, and also not focused on Diam; he'd seen quite enough of him frankly.

They were more focused on these two new faces, admittedly one more than the other. Also still dressed in her hijacker outfit, there was a stark disconnect from the dark outfit and her bright hair and warm eyes. Or, they would look warm, if she were smiling. It seems White's first impression of her, when she'd pretended to be a conductor, was not at all a good representation of her personality. She was leaning up against the wall of the car, away from the three men, looking annoyed and uninterested. When he caught her gaze he quickly looked away. She didn't seem like the kind of person Duke wanted to be caught staring at.

That leaves us with the final man there, a man Duke was meeting for the first time. He was a Faunus with shaggy black hair that contrasted with his white rabbit ears which were folded around two black devices. He wore a long white and gold formal coat, probably the Informer's actual uniform when they weren't on duty, except he simply wore it around his shoulders, letting the sleeves dangle freely. Underneath he wore a white dress shirt and pants, as well as black military boots. "So... yeah, this was all your initiation test. And I guess ya passed." He said.

"How? How did you even do all this?" Duke asked. "Simple, we just managed to coordinate your train trip to Mythic Station with this little terrorist group's train robbery. We let 'em know you'd be there, let you know they might be there, and Bob's your uncle." He said, nonchalantly. "What about the other passengers?" Duke asked, still confused at the logistics of this test. Diam spoke up this time. "Everyone on this train was either a hijacker or an agent of ours. Also, just for the record, I'd like to say that you DID NOT pass. You were unable to incapacitate us." Duke furrowed his brow. "You didn't give me a fair chance, you interrupted my fight with her." He said. "Oh, and what's your excuse for your failure in OUR fight?" Diam asked him, smirking an annoyingly cocky smile. The woman spoke up. "You two are trained huntsmen, quit bickering like toddlers." Her voice was very cold and monotone, obviously annoyed. "Oh, we're just having a bit of a playful back and forth, Rych, it's just a thing we do." Diam responded, grin still firm on his face.

"You can back and forth to your heart's contents later, for now, introductions are in order. You know Diam already, so," He extended his hand to Duke. "I'm Gack Rabbit, sort of the leader of the group. Well, the team we're forming, not the Informers themselves. You'll meet our commander later." Duke shook the Faunus's hand as he gestured to the blonde woman. "And this here is Rych Black. She's not much for conversation, so don't take it personally." Rych rolled her eyes as he said this. Gack released Duke's hand. "Any other burning questions? You can always ask later, it'll be a day or two before we're at Mythic Station." He said. Duke thought for a moment. A day or two was long enough to ask them each a few questions, and honestly, he was pretty damn tired. He used his semblance quite a bit during that train fight. He always relied on that thing too much sometimes, it could drain his aura if he wasn't careful. "I think I'm good for now... if you don't mind, I need some sleep..." Gack nodded in understanding. "You go do that then, same room you were assigned." Duke got up from his seat and walked back to the sleeper car. He had one main question, an important one, but it could wait till the morning.

And right when he woke up, after getting dressed and finding Gack, he asked him this question, with no introduction or pleasantries. "What the hell is my brother doing in this organization?" Gack was looking out one of the windows of the dining car. As Duke asked him this, he turned to face him. "What, no good morning? No hello?" He said, smirking. "If you must know, he's been uninvolved with Erena's affairs for over a year now, you could call him a freelancer. He's one of the best young huntsmen in the world, we'd be crazy not to grab him." He explained to Duke. "How can you be sure he isn't planning something? I doubt he could even function in a team of four, he's absurdly megalomaniacal." Duke retorted. He'd, against his own wishes, heard a lot about his brother's successes as a single huntsman, but not much in the way of his team. He assumed this was intentional by Diam, flaunting all his successes to Duke, whilst sweeping his shortcomings under the rug. "He's not JUST working in a team of four, he's working with a large organization of individuals for the betterment of the world. And, let me stress this point, these are LIKEMINDED individuals, likeminded with him, HE wants a better world. He's against this war, he's against cruel governments, he's one of those 'New Carcosa' types, y'know?" Gack explained. Duke was aware of the ideology. Based on the Great Fable, though not inherently religious itself, it was the belief that society was meant to be united under one empire or even a single city spanning the entire globe. "Forgive me if I doubt this. If anything, he'd believe in a New Carcosa under Erena's complete control, he's nothing but a stooge for that country." Duke said, disdain in his voice. Gack shrugged. "Look, as I said, he's not done a bit of work for Erena in a year. Maybe he's changed since you've last seen him?" The Faunus said. "Unlikely..." Duke responded as he began to walk away.

He'd decided to go ask Rych about Diam. She seemed blunter, the kind of person who would tell it like it is. He found her at the back of the train, leaning on the railing outside and smoking a cigarette. He cleared his throat. "I thought you weren't meant to smoke on trains." He said. She looked back at him, not emoting that much. "It'd be my word against your's, keep your mouth shut." She responded dryly. He just nodded, none of his business. "Right, I just wanted to talk about Diam. How is he on this team?" She looked away again after this question, taking another drag from the cigarette. "He's one of the best in the world, and he was willing to do this, it's not that complicated." She said. "Anything else you want to bother me about?" Duke thought he'd just take this matter straight to Diam now, rather than pester Rych or Gack any longer. He stepped back into the train to find his brother.

Surprisingly, he found him immediately, standing in the car, waiting for his conversation with Rych to end. "I heard you have some questions about my involvement." He said, not with his usual smirk, he seemed to be taking this seriously. Duke thought for a moment before responding. "What happened to the Model Erenian? The superior huntsman who believed to be part of the greatest nation on Carcosa?" He asked. Diam sighed. "I used to believe that Erena held the way to prosperity, that if they were to have total control over the world it would be a utopia. But recently, their interest in Helysia has had me unsure. They shouldn't bother themselves with the business of another country, their focus should be on improving their own society and maintaining their standing in the world. This war is a waste of time and resources for Erena, and since they seem to be blind to that, I've decided to give my service to the Informers instead." Diam explained. Duke took a moment to consider all this. His brother had always been a diehard when it came to Erenian patriotism, touting the flag of his homeland above all others, using it as a means to prove he was better than everyone else. But now, it seems he's changed his tune. "...Don't think this resolves everything between us. You have an ounce more of my respect than you used to, that's all." Duke said. Diam nodded. "That's fine, White, I understand. I look forward to earning more of respect in our time working together." He said. Duke walked off, somewhat hopeful about his brother for once.

As Gack said, they arrived at Mythic Station after a few days. It was a somewhat stealthy installation, built into the side of a mountain in northern Manabriar, but like an iceberg, very little of it showed up top. Gack and some armed agents led the group in, where much of the base's personnel were gathered to welcome to the new recruit. But Duke's attention was mainly focused on the man stood front and center, the commander.

He was tall, very much so, with yellowish-orange skin. He had a square jaw, covered with a shaggy beard, the same orangeish-red as his long, scraggly swept-back hair. He had a very muscular build, contained in a formal uniform, with a coat like the one Gack wore around his shoulders, as well as a buttoned-up shirt, combat boots, and trousers. What stuck out the most was his face, apart from the beard he had piercing yellow eyes, and two short horns sticking out from his forehead, just above his brow, the one on the left looked a tad damaged. He was obviously a Vennlige, known to often be tall and have short horns growing out of their forehead, but they usually had more of a light yellow tint and a lithe build, whereas this man almost looked like a demon with his hulking frame and red pigment. He gave Duke a slight smile and stuck his large hand out, prompting him to step up to shake it. As he did, the man gave it a firm grip and looked down at him. "It's a pleasure to have you on board, son." He said, with a gruff, bassy voice. "Commander Red Devil, welcome to the Informers."


	5. Roc Solid

Team GDRD were on route to a military base in Helysia. Duke was a tad nervous, considering he'd only had a few weeks to gel with the rest of the team. But he understood that they had to follow this lead before it dried up, it was a rumored bio-weapon in production, dubbed Project DIV. Team GDRD were sent right away to a military base in northern Helysia to investigate, and are currently landing near the site in a VTOL.

They were dressed in their usual attire, which for Rych was a black coat with a fur collar and a hood, as well as black tactical pants and boots. They all wore some specialized thermal combat suits under their gear, complete with attached earpiece communicators. As the VTOL took off Rych looked through her rifle at the icy coastal base. A tall wall surrounded the perimeter, spare for a harbor area, which also allowed some of the cold ocean water to flow into a sort of dam, to cool some generator no doubt. The base, called Roc's Nest, was as you'd expect it to look, just some tall gray buildings, warehouses, a radio antenna, nothing too remarkable. But if their intel was correct, underneath all of it was an extensive laboratory containing experiments that could turn the tide of the war in Helysia's favor.

"So... how the hell are we getting in there?" Duke asked. Gack smiled. "Simple!" He gestured to the sky, a thick snowstorm was slowly picking up. "This blizzard'll give us a bit of cover, we'll have a bit of a distraction to take attention off of any possible intruders, and then," He pointed at a cargo ship in the distance. "We hitch a ride on that ship right on into the base. Easy as that." He said matter of factly. Rych rolled her eyes. "Sounds like a great way to put the place on high alert." She said. Gack turned to her. "Look, it's GONNA be on high alert, not much to do about it, and I'd rather have it be because of a random explosion out in the snow than us." He responded. Duke looked confused. "Does this HAVE to be a stealth mission? I use revolvers for goddess's sake." Diam nodded to his brother. "This is to gain information, it's not a raid. The Informers are meant to be a secretive agency, storming this base would be exposing quite a few cards on our table." He explained, taking out some dust cartridges to use in the distraction. Gack took out his weapons, two short blades with hooks on the other side of them. "Yeah, so, if you could stick to hand-to-hand until shooting is completely necessary, I'd appreciate it. This just isn't a good time for gunplay." He said. Duke looked to the side and muttered. "It's always a good time for gunplay..." Inciting a chuckle from his brother.

"Once we're in, Rych and I'll go for that tower," He pointed to a large domed tower. "Should be a security terminal inside, I'll be able to get into the whole of Roc Base's systems from there, you just have to use the jacks I gave you." He said, referring to the small, sleek black devices he'd given them that interfaced with all kinds of technology. "Plug 'em into whatever terminals you find down there and I'll have more and more of the security system under my control. All we have to do is get in, get intel, and get out, understood?" He asked. The team nodded. "Good," Gack said. "Also, for the record, they're called 'Gack Jacks'. Just throwing that out there to start this assignment on a bit of a fun note." He added. Diam grinned at this while Duke and Rych were less entertained. "I'm just calling them Jacks..." Duke said. Gack shrugged in response. "Whatever floats your boat. Speaking of, here comes our's right now. Diam, the distraction if you'd please?" He asked his teammate. Diam nodded and clenched his fist around the dust cartridge, heating it up with his semblance. He then reeled back and gave it a strong toss. As it landed, it detonated and the base began to spring to high alert. This was GDRD's cue to start running.

Gack spoke as they ran. "So, remember when I said this was a stealth mission? This is probably going to be the least stealthy part of the mission." He flipped his swords around, fingers on the triggers just below the hooks. "We have to grapple up then knock out anyone who's above deck that sees us. Then we stow away, the ship is taken in, and we wait to make our move." As they approached the coast, Gack tossed his arms back, pressing the triggers and letting the hooks extend, then whipping them forward to use that momentum to reach the deck of the ship, which they did, latching on. "Alright, now hold on tight, and pray I didn't make a mistake when calculating how much these can hold." He said. The team held on to their leader, and he let go of the triggers, pulling them towards the hooks. It took a bit of scrambling on the side of the boat, but they managed to make it onto the deck without being spotted, quickly slinking inside to find somewhere to wait out the docking. "So..." Diam spoke up, as they sat down in a room full of crates. "How do we plan on getting inside?" Duke glanced at the crates. "...I have an idea."

After their less than glamorous infiltration, Rych spoke to Duke through their communicators, crammed into a crate with Gack. "This was a horrible idea." She said, bunched up with a bunch of weapons and her team leader. "It worked, didn't it?" Duke retorted, he was also sharing a small space with his brother and some firearms. "He's got ya there, Rych, it DID work." Gack said, taking peek out from the crate, making sure they had a clear area to step out into. Duke did the same and he and Diam got out of the crate together, stretching a bit and readying their weapons. Rych and Gack did the same, beginning to stealthfully make their way to the tower with the surveillance terminal. Meanwhile, Duke and Diam headed inside some building, looking for a way into the bases lower levels. Some careful wandering showed them results and they found a chamber with an elevator in it. Duke spoke to Gack through their communicators. "Gack, are you in yet?" He asked in a hushed tone. "Yeeeup just about got it. Why?" He responded. "Diam and I've found a way to a lower level, I think we'll need some clearance." He said, glancing around for any guards. There were two stood by the elevator in the white fatigues of the Helysian army, but they'd seen a rather surprising lack of them in here, even with the distraction they'd caused Duke had expected there to still be a good amount of soldiers indoors. "Just one second... I can't see anything beyond that elevator, must be a security system down there that's separate. We accounted for that, of course, so it's fun to know I was right. Let me just... oh, looks like someone's using it right now, on route to your floor." Gack said from the tower, Rych keeping an eye out for anyone looking to use the room.

Duke and Diam hung back and watched as the elevator doors opened up and out stepped a woman in aviator goggles and a brown leather jacket, as well as some leather trousers. She had shortly cut auburn hair tied back, a strong jaw, and the pale icy skin indicative of a Helysian native. She was flanked by soldiers in similar fatigues, they were all assumed to be pilots by Duke. "The Rocs..." Diam whispered to his brother. "This base is where they're stationed, hence the name..." Duke looked towards him. "Any reason we should be afraid of some aviators?" He asked. "They're highly trained in hand-to-hand combat, and their leader," He said, gesturing slightly to the woman in the middle. "She graduated top of her class at Soar, the academy here in Helysia." Duke inspected the woman. She did seem more formidable than your average pilot, standing just as tall as the men in her squadron, and appeared to have just as much muscle mass. The Rocs made their way down a hall, leaving just the two guards at the empty elevator. Diam smirked and gripped the hilt of his blade. "I doubt the same is true of these two, however... ready, White?" He asked. Duke had his revolvers holstered, as they weren't the stealthiest of weapons, but had his gloved fists ready instead. "Ready."

And thus, in a matter of seconds, two guards were now dead, effortlessly slain by the two huntsmen. Diam had sliced one in half, while Duke nailed the other one with a spinning heel kick, sending him into the wall, where he was soon joined by Diam's sword. The two stepped into the elevator and began their descent. They soon reached the laboratory level, walking into an empty, sterile room that led to different parts of the facility. Diam turned to Duke. "Why don't we split up? You look for intel, I'll look for the security terminal and get ourselves 'Gack Jacked' in." He said, grinning slightly. Duke just nodded and proceeded to the lab alone. He stealthfully avoided detection and found himself in a terminal room, he assumed it was to log their findings. "This ought to give us some answers..." He activated his communicator. "Gack, I've found a terminal." He said. "You too? Diam just found one for that level... meh, guess that's not too odd, jack me in." He responded, looking over the facility's inner workings and copying some of the data. Duke inserted the jack into the terminal, bringing it to life and allowing Gack to look through it. "Ah, on-base personnel, perfect... these positions will give us an idea of what they do here..." Duke watched the monitor of the terminal display Gack's browsings, hundreds of different faces were there, with positions ranging from 'Janitor' to 'Head Researcher'. After some digging, Gack came up with something startling. "Bio-engineering project manager: Professor Russet Clay. And what do you know, I happen to know where his department is, just head on there and we'll see what info he's willing to d-" He was interrupted by Rych. "Wait, check the important personal again!" She said. "Huh? Alright... I don't-" Then, all three of them saw it. The highest commanding officer on the list. The leader of Team DSKO, clear as day: Diam Cinere.

"...That son of a bitch!" Rych took off. "Where are you going!?" Gack asked. "To get Duke out of there, we've been double-crossed!" She said, seemingly abandoning the stealth aspect of this mission. "There's no need to be so rash, we could... well... eh, fuck it, this was probably a trap the whole time. Duke, you can use your revolvers now, this is now an escape mission, get the hell out of there!" He said. Duke just stared at his brother's picture on the terminal, glaring at it. That same smug grin of his, mocking him. "...I'm interrogating Clay, we'll leave after I'm done." He said, unholstering his revolvers and rushing out of the terminal room. "What?! This isn't worth it, Diam's almost certainly counting on it!" He said. "He's right, White, I am." It was just then that the team remembered Diam still had his communicator. Diam didn't respond, neither did Rych. "I believe you'll find it much harder to sneak around all of the sudden. Though that never was your style, was it, White?" He asked as they could all hear the wicked grin on his face through his words. Duke remained silent. "Saving it for when we meet? Fine then. I'll see you in the Bio-Engineering department." Diam said. The team heard interference on the end of the traitor, he'd destroyed his communicator. "...Shit." Gack offered.

Duke and Rych both cut down guards with minimal difficulty, they were both trained huntsmen of course, and both were determined in their goals. Duke wanted to complete this mission in spite of it being a trap concocted by his brother, and Rych wanted to get this idiot out of this stupid situation. Gack guided them both to the Bio-Engineering department, with Duke arriving first. There stood a man with graying blond hair styled neatly atop his head, and thick glasses on his thin, angular face. Professor Clay. Next to him was Diam, smirking at his brother as he entered. Duke glared at him, stone-faced. "You've arrived, brother. Wonderful. I suppose you'd like to know what Project DIV is?" He asked. Duke continued glaring for a moment, then turned to Clay. "Spill." He commanded. The man chuckled and smiled a smile, not unlike his brother's. "Straight to the point." He said in a heavy, sharp Helysian accent. "Very well. Just destroy your communicator first. The only way this information will get to your little group is if you manage to leave this place yourself." He said. Gack could barely get a word in before Duke had crushed his communicator. He had the utmost confidence in himself. Diam grinned at this and Clay begun his explanation.


	6. Pushing Up Goldenrods

"Project DIV, Di Immortales Venandi. That's an ancient dialect, a sort of precursor to the language we speak today, in roughly translates to 'Immortal Huntsmen'. As I'm sure you're aware, the use of properly trained huntsmen in armed forces is common nowadays. Throughout history, wealthy individuals had hired some of the less reputable ones to take care of little problems for them, sometimes Sallow-related, sometimes not, though as these huntsmen were operating outside of the authority of the academies, they were classified as 'vagabonds' instead. Huntsmen were heavily involved in the Helysian civil war, mainly on the side of nationalists, who I might add were the victors. The Erenians have militarized huntsmen as well, sending them on various counter-terrorism missions, and even some private requests by certain moneyed clients who generously donated to the academy there. And now even Manabriar and Erimos are joining in, allowing the Informers to have huntsmen in their ranks." He said, standing straight with his hands folded behind his back. While Duke listened to Clay, his eyes kept darting back to his brother for any sign of trickery. Diam offered only his usual grin.

"Helysia likes to be ahead of the curve, however. So, what's the next step in militarized huntsmen? Why genetically modifying them of course!" He said, smirking to himself. "Imagine... breaking aura and semblance down to a science, administering useful semblances and powerful auras into ordinary soldiers, or even cloning powerful huntsmen to create an army of identically perfect soldiers! Hell, we could build a huntsman from the ground up!" Diam seemed to somehow smile wider. Duke found out why right after. "In fact, you're looking at the prime subject of our cloning operations right here! Your very own brother!" Clay exclaimed.

Duke glared into his brother's eyes. "Isn't that wonderful, White? You'll be getting some nephews! It's just a shame they'll grow up with a late uncle..." With that, Duke held up his revolvers at the two. While Clay masked his concern over it, Diam seemed to lack it entirely. "Is that everything?" Duke asked Clay, keeping his eyes locked on his brother's. "Yes, that's about the gist of it... we've yet to begin anything major, but expect results very soon." The man said, backing away from the brothers slightly. Diam unsheathed his sword. "This won't be like the train, Diam." Duke said. Diam nodded. "You're right. Only one of us will walk away from it." With that, he rushed at his brother, trying to swipe through his torso with his blade. Duke sidestepped, but then realized he was in front of the tip of Diam's blade. His brother grinned, this had been according to his plan. He pulled a trigger on his hilt as his hands shone brightly with heat, and a small vent on the tip of the sword opened up, releasing a blast of fire at Duke, who just barely rolled out of the way, singing a side of his leather coat.

Diam released the trigger, his hands still shining, his sword following suit. It glowed a bright orange from the heat inside of it, the heat generated by Diam's semblance. Duke would have to be careful, his own semblance gave him an awareness of physical weapons, but semblances were harder to predict. He spun his revolvers and fired at Diam, who swung his sword around to deflect the shots, the spun around, following the moment of his sword swinging to try and decapitate his brother, who fell back to dodge under it, then pushed off the ground to try and kick Diam in the side of the head. Unfortunately, he ducked under the attack, Duke just barely being able to land and spin around to see a kick coming his way. He caught the leg, wrapping his arm around it and then trying to sweep the remaining leg of Diam's out from under him. Where Duke went low, Diam went high, attempting to use his caught leg to his advantage and spin kick Duke in the side of the head with his free foot. Duke was caught in the forehead with this and both brothers fell to the ground, rolling forward and turning around to face each other at nearly the exact same time. They knew each other well.

And so they fought, lightning fast, with counters upon counters. It seemed almost choreographed in its intricacy. Over the years, as they've fought over and over, they've developed strategies, counter-strategies, counter-counter-strategies, and so on. It seemed this fight would take quite awhile, their attacks barely ever connected, but suddenly a loud gunshot rang out, unlike the ones that had come from Duke's revolvers, and a bullet whizzed by Diam's shoulder, scraping his aura slightly.

The two turned to face the source of the shot and saw Rych standing in the doorway, rifle aimed at Diam. "Duke, we're leaving." She said. "Not until I beat this backstabbing bastard!" Duke replied, firing two shots at Diam, who expertly rolled out of the way, rushing towards Rych, who quickly transitioned her rifle into its sword form and parried his swipe. She sighed. "Fine, if you're going to be stubborn about it," She swung her blade at Diam, trying to create some distance. "Gack says that actually downloading some data from this department would be good for us. Why don't we go do that instead of just fighting your brother in this one room?" She asked, swapping her weapon back to rifle form and firing at Diam, who deflected it with his sword. "After you, I'll hold him back when he follows us." Duke said, firing some shots at Diam, who once again spun his sword around to deflect the bullets. "You're the one who literally only has a ranged weapon, you go first, I'll do the fighting." Rych said, walking over to Duke, keeping her eyes locked with Diam's. "This is MY battle, you go ahead, I'll keep at it." Duke said. Diam rolled his eyes. "Why don't I just give you both a headstart so you can stop bickering?"

Although it was offered sarcastically, Rych elected to decide for both of them and run out of the room, dragging Duke along with her by his arm. Professor Clay, who'd taken cover during the dual between the brothers, popped his head out and looked at Diam. "Are you... actually giving them a headstart?" He asked. Diam shrugged. "I wasn't going to at first, but now I think I will. Besides, it's not just me they'll be dealing with." He responded, leaning against a wall and making some guesses of where Rych and Duke would've gone.

While he did that, Rych was still dragging Duke down a hallway with her, taking directions from Gack. They reached a room full of scientists and Rych fired a shot to encourage them all to get out of their way. "Go jack into those terminals." She said to Duke. He nodded and did so, letting Gack access all of the classified data on Project DIV. "We're not leaving without taking Diam with us. He can't get away with this." Duke said. Rych rolled her eyes. "Look, I know you have problems with him, but getting out of here alive is more important than getting back at a double agent." She said flatly.

Just then, someone walked into the room. It was the leader of the Rocs that Duke and Diam had seen earlier. She looked around at the scientists cowering from the two, then focused on them. "Diam hasn't finished you two yet?" She asked, a low Helysian accent in her voice. Duke attempted to draw a revolver on her, but she pulled a bent metallic object, a boomerang, a threw it at expertly at his weapon, knocking it out of his hands. The boomerang spun through the air, back into her hands, and she pointed it at the two, revealing it to double as a firearm. "I suppose I'll just pick up where he left off." She said, firing at the two. Rych once again dragged Duke off at full sprint, ducking out of the path of the bullet and pushing past the pilot.

At this point, she was running through the halls with Duke, taking directions from Gack to the surface. After going through some soldiers, they found an elevator that led straight to the airstrip of the base and got in. They knew there'd likely be an ambush waiting there, but all they could do was prepare themselves. Duke pulled a spare revolver out from a holster, replacing the one he'd lost earlier. The elevator doors opened and revealed a full squadron of soldiers, headed by Diam. The Rocs were also there, the four other than their leader. "Going somewhere?" Diam said, grinning cruelly. Duke and Rych looked around for an exit, but there was none. They stepped out of the elevator, which went down as soon as they did. The pilot, probably, calling it down to follow them. "Why don't we wait for Kelly to get here before doing away with you two?" He asked. Duke just glared at him. "Why...?" He asked him. Diam just kept on smiling.

After a tense moment, the elevator came back up, and the pilot, named Kelly apparently, stepped out. She held her gun to the two from behind, keeping it there as she circled round to stand next to Diam. "Well, this is it then. Any last words?" Diam asked the two. Duke stepped forward, gripping his revolvers. "Let's finish this. Just you and me." He said. Diam could only snicker. "Will you look around please? Just once, see where you stand against me." He said, spreading his arms wide to gesture at the platoon of soldiers surrounding them. "You lose, White. You just lose." It was just then that an explosion blew away a good section of the soldiers.

Rych and Duke quickly whipped there heads around to see Gack tossing the pin of a grenade away. He took out a weapon and hurled a hook at Kelly, who caught it with her boomerang. But then, he released the trigger on his weapon, sending him flying towards his hook, he used the speed to boot Kelly in the face, knocking her down. Duke then opened fire on Diam and Rych started thinning the remaining group of soldiers. Soon after this explosion of offense from what was left of team GDRD, it was just them, Diam, Kelly, and the Rocs that Kelly commanded. Rych shifted her rifle into its blade form and went to assist Gack in fighting the Rocs, seeing as he had more opponents. Besides, Duke would prefer to have a one-on-one fight with his brother, even if that was strategically known as 'a stupid move'. The Rocs all had similar weapons, more or less just copies of Kelly's boomerang. Duke was fairing alright against his brother, making sure he was rarely ever open for an attack.

Apparently, this was just as Duke wanted, as in the blink of an eye, his sword was lodged in Rych's abdomen. Duke and Gack, needless to say, were a bit shocked, this seemed out of nowhere. It was just then that alarms roared alive, and the VTOL GDRD had arrived in flew overhead, opening fire at the Rocs and Diam. Diam pulled his sword out of Rych and tossed her over his shoulder, calmly walking away, barely minding the gunfire around him. Duke ran at him in a rage, when he turned around and fired a shot from Rych's own rifle, hitting Duke right in the eye. The last thing Duke saw in his hazy, bloodied vision as he was helped onto the VTOL by Gack was Diam grinning at him from afar.


End file.
